ΕVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST. 16/7

• 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
• 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
• 1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.
• 1212 – Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain.
• 1232 – The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks the Muhammad's first rise to prominence; he would later establish the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain.
• 1377 – Richard II of England is crowned.
• 1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
• 1683 – Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
• 1769 – Father Junípero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California.
• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
• 1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
• 1809 – The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
• 1849 – Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
• 1861 – American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
• 1862 – American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
• 1909 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
• 1910 – John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.
• 1915 – Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.
• 1915 – First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.
• 1927 – Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive-bombing attacks in history.
• 1931 – Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
• 1935 – The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• 1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
• 1942 – Holocaust: Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv): The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Winter Velodrome in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.
• 1945 – World War II: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco with parts for the atomic bomb "Little Boy" bound for Tinian Island.
• 1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
• 1948 – Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
• 1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.
• 1950 – Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.
• 1951 – King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin I of Belgium.
• 1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas.
• 1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
• 1965 – South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, a formerly undetected communist spy and double agent, is hunted down and killed by unknown individuals after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyễn Khánh.
• 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
• 1979 – Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
• 1983 – Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.
• 1990 – The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.
• 1990 – The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
• 1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies when his plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. His wife and sister-in-law are also killed.
• 2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago's first and most ambitious early 21st-century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
• 2007 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant.
• 2013 – As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India.
• 2015 – Four U.S. Marines and one gunman die in a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

• 1194 – Clare of Assisi, Italian nun and saint (d. 1253)
• 1486 – Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (d. 1530)
• 1517 – Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English duchess (d. 1559)
• 1529 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (d. 1589)
• 1611 – Cecilia Renata of Austria (d. 1644)
• 1661 – Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, Canadian captain, explorer, and politician (d. 1706)
• 1714 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French engineer and author (d. 1800)
• 1722 – Joseph Wilton, English sculptor and academic (d. 1803)
• 1723 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (d. 1792)
• 1731 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1796)
• 1749 – Cyrus Griffin, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 16th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1810)
• 1796 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and etcher (d. 1875)
• 1821 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (d. 1910)
• 1841 – Nikolai von Glehn, Estonian-German architect and activist (d. 1923)
• 1858 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
• 1862 – Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (d. 1931)
• 1863 – Anderson Dawson, Australian politician, 14th Premier of Queensland (d. 1910)
• 1870 – Lambert McKenna, Irish priest, lexicographer, and scholar (d. 1956)
• 1871 – John Maxwell, American golfer (d. 1906)
• 1872 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (d. 1928)
• 1872 – Frank Cooper, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Queensland (d. 1949)
• 1880 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1966)
• 1883 – Charles Sheeler, American photographer and painter (d. 1965)
• 1884 – Anna Vyrubova, Russian author (d. 1964)
• 1887 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
• 1888 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (d. 1964)
• 1888 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
• 1889 – Arthur Bowie Chrisman, American author (d. 1953)
• 1895 – Wilfrid Hamel, Canadian businessman and politician, 35th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 1968)
• 1896 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (d. 1969)
• 1896 – Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1968)
• 1902 – Alexander Luria, Russian psychologist and physician (d. 1977)
• 1902 – Mary Philbin, American actress (d. 1993)
• 1903 – Fritz Bauer, German lawyer and judge (d. 1968)
• 1903 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1971)
• 1903 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German mathematician and engineer (d. 1974)
• 1904 – Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1906 – Vincent Sherman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• 1907 – Frances Horwich, American educator and television host (d. 2001)
• 1907 – Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher's (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricketer (d. 1968)
• 1910 – Gordon Prange, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1980)
• 1911 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1995)
• 1911 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1912 – Milt Bocek, American baseball player (d. 2007)
• 1912 – Amy Paterson, Argentine composer, singer, poet, and teacher
• 1915 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1915 – Elaine Barrie, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1918 – Denis Edward Arnold, English soldier (d. 2015)
• 1918 – Paul Farnes, famed World War II Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and one of "The Few" surviving pilots of the Battle of Britain
• 1918 – Samuel Victor Perry, English biochemist and rugby player (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian SS officer (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Choi Kyu-hah, South Korean politician, 4th President of South Korea (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Anatole Broyard, American critic and editor (d. 1990)
• 1923 – Chris Argyris, American psychologist, theorist, and academic (d. 2013)
• 1924 – James L. Greenfield, American journalist and politician
• 1924 – Bess Myerson, American model, actress, game show panelist, and politician, Miss America 1945 (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Rupert Deese, Northern Mariana Islander ceramic artist (d. 2010)
• 1925 – Frank Jobe, American sergeant and surgeon (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Rosita Quintana, Argentine actress
• 1926 – Ivica Horvat, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator
• 1927 – Derek Hawksworth, English footballer
• 1928 – Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Bella Davidovich, Soviet-American pianist
• 1928 – Robert Sheckley, American author and screenwriter (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Jim Rathmann, American race car driver (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Dave Treen, American lawyer and politician, 51st Governor of Louisiana (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Andrzej Zawada, Polish mountaineer and author (d. 2000)
• 1929 – Charles Ray Hatcher, American serial killer (d. 1984)
• 1929 – Sheri S. Tepper, American author and poet
• 1929 – Gaby Tanguy, French swimmer
• 1930 – Guy Béart, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Michael Bilirakis, American lawyer and politician
• 1930 – Bert Rechichar, American football defensive back and kicker
• 1931 – Fergus Gordon Kerr, Scottish Roman Catholic priest of the English Dominican Province
• 1931 – Norm Sherry, American former catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball
• 1932 – John Chilton, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2016)
• 1932 – Max McGee, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Dick Thornburgh, American lawyer and politician, 76th United States Attorney General
• 1933 – Julian A. Brodsky, American businessman
• 1934 – Donald M. Payne, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Katherine D. Ortega, 38th Treasurer of the United States
• 1935 – Carl Epting Mundy, Jr., American general (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Lynn Wyatt, American socialite and philanthropist
• 1936 – Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 91st Prime Minister of Japan
• 1936 – Buddy Merrill, American guitarist
• 1936 – Jerry Norman, American sinologist and linguist (d. 2012)
• 1936 – Venkataraman Subramanya, Indian-Australian cricketer
• 1937 – Richard Bryan, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Nevada
• 1937 – John Daly, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1938 – Cynthia Enloe, American author and academic
• 1938 – Tony Jackson, English singer and bass player (d. 2003)
• 1939 – William Bell, American singer-songwriter
• 1939 – Lido Vieri, Italian football manager and football player
• 1939 – Denise LaSalle, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2018)
• 1939 – Ruth Perry, president of Liberia (d. 2017)^[1]
• 1939 – Shringar Nagaraj, Indian actor and producer (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Corin Redgrave, English actor and activist (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Mariele Ventre, Italian singer and conductor (d. 1995)
• 1941 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1941 – Dag Solstad, Norwegian author and playwright
• 1941 – Hans Wiegel, Dutch journalist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• 1941 – Sir George Young, 6th Baronet, English banker and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
• 1942 – Margaret Court, Australian tennis player and minister
• 1942 – Frank Field, English politician
• 1943 – Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban-American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1943 – Vernon Bogdanor, English political scientist and academic
• 1943 – Jimmy Johnson, American football player and coach
• 1944 – Angharad Rees, English-Welsh actress and jewellery designer (d. 2012)
• 1946 – Louise Fréchette, Canadian civil servant and diplomat, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
• 1946 – Barbara Lee, American politician
• 1946 – Ron Yary, American football player
• 1947 – Don Burke, Australian television host and producer
• 1947 – Alexis Herman, American businesswoman and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of Labor
• 1947 – Assata Shakur, American-Cuban criminal and activist
• 1948 – Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1948 – Lars Lagerbäck, Swedish footballer and manager
• 1948 – Kevin McKenzie, South African cricketer
• 1948 – Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist and conductor
• 1949 – Alan Fitzgerald, American guitarist and keyboardist
• 1950 – Pierre Paradis, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1950 – Dennis Priestley, English darts player
• 1950 – Frances Spalding, English historian and academic
• 1950 – Tom Terrell, American journalist and photographer (d. 2007)
• 1951 – Jean-Luc Mongrain, Canadian journalist
• 1951 – Che Rosli, Malaysian politician
• 1952 – Stewart Copeland, American drummer and songwriter
• 1952 – Richard Egielski, American author and illustrator
• 1952 – Marc Esposito, French director and screenwriter
• 1952 – Ken McEwan, South African cricketer
• 1953 – Douglas J. Feith, American lawyer and politician, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
• 1954 – Jeanette Mott Oxford, American politician
• 1955 – Susan Wheeler, American poet and academic
• 1955 – Saw Swee Leong, Malaysian badminton player
• 1956 – Tony Kushner, American playwright and screenwriter
• 1957 – Faye Grant, American actress
• 1957 – Alexandra Marinina, Ukrainian-Russian colonel and author
• 1958 – Michael Flatley, American-Irish dancer and choreographer
• 1958 – Mike Rogers, American politician
• 1959 – Gary Anderson, South African-American football player
• 1959 – James MacMillan, Scottish composer and conductor
• 1959 – Zoran Jolevski, Macedonian economist, politician, and diplomat, Macedonian Ambassador to the United States
• 1959 – Jürgen Ligi, Estonian economist and politician, 25th Estonian Minister of Defence
• 1960 – Terry Pendleton, American baseball player and coach
• 1962 – Grigory Leps, Russian singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Phoebe Cates, American actress
• 1963 – Srečko Katanec, Slovenian footballer and coach
• 1963 – Mikael Pernfors, Swedish tennis player
• 1964 – Phil Hellmuth, American poker player
• 1964 – Miguel Indurain, Spanish cyclist
• 1965 – Michel Desjoyeaux, French sailor
• 1965 – Claude Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Sherri Stoner, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1966 – Jyrki Lumme, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1966 – Johnny Vaughan, English journalist and critic
• 1967 – Will Ferrell, American actor, comedian, and producer
• 1968 – Dhanraj Pillay, Indian field hockey player and manager
• 1968 – Barry Sanders, American football player
• 1968 – Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium
• 1968 – Michael Searle, Australian rugby league player and businessman
• 1968 – Robert Sherman, American songwriter and businessman
• 1968 – Olga Souza, Brazilian singer and dancer
• 1969 – Jules De Martino, English singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1969 – Kathryn Harby-Williams, Australian netball player and sportscaster
• 1970 – Raimonds Miglinieks, Latvian basketball player and coach
• 1970 – Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thai director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Corey Feldman, American actor
• 1971 – Ed Kowalczyk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Live)
• 1972 – Ben Cahoon, American-Canadian football player and coach
• 1972 – François Drolet, Canadian speed skater
• 1973 – Shaun Pollock, South African cricketer
• 1973 – Graham Robertson, American director and producer
• 1973 – Tim Ryan, American politician
• 1974 – Jeremy Enigk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1974 – Maret Maripuu, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
• 1974 – Ryan McCombs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1974 – Wendell Sailor, Australian rugby player
• 1975 – Bas Leinders, Belgian race car driver
• 1976 – Tomasz Kuchar, Polish race car driver
• 1976 – Carlos Humberto Paredes, Paraguayan footballer
• 1976 – Anna Smashnova, Belarusian-Israeli tennis player
• 1977 – Bryan Budd, Northern Ireland-born English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2006)
• 1979 – Chris Mihm, American basketball player
• 1979 – Mai Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
• 1979 – Kim Rhode, American sport shooter
• 1979 – Nathan Rogers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Konstantin Skrylnikov, Russian footballer
• 1980 – Adam Scott, Australian golfer
• 1981 – Giuseppe Di Masi, Italian footballer
• 1981 – Robert Kranjec, Slovenian ski jumper
• 1981 – Zach Randolph, American basketball player
• 1981 – Vicente Rodríguez, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – André Greipel, German cyclist
• 1982 – Carli Lloyd, American soccer player
• 1982 – Michael Umaña, Costa Rican footballer
• 1983 – Duncan Keith, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Hayanari Shimoda, Japanese race car driver
• 1984 – Attila Szabó, Hungarian decathlete
• 1985 – Mārtiņš Kravčenko, Latvian basketball player
• 1985 – Denis Tahirović, Croatian footballer
• 1986 – Dustin Boyd, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Misako Uno, Japanese actress, singer, and fashion designer
• 1987 – Mousa Dembélé, Belgian footballer
• 1987 – AnnaLynne McCord, American actress and producer^[2]
• 1988 – Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
• 1990 – Bureta Faraimo, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1990 – Wizkid, Nigerian singer and songwriter
• 1990 – Johann Zarco, French motorcycle racer
• 1991 – Andros Townsend, English footballer

• 784 – Fulrad, Frankish diplomat and saint (b. 710)
• 866 – Irmgard, Frankish abbess
• 1212 – William de Brus, 3rd Lord of Annandale
• 1216 – Pope Innocent III (b. 1160)
• 1324 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (b. 1267)
• 1342 – Charles I of Hungary (b. 1288)
• 1344 – An-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt (b. 1316)
• 1509 – Joao da Nova, Portuguese explorer (b. 1460)
• 1546 – Anne Askew, English author and poet (b. 1520)
• 1557 – Anne of Cleves (b. 1515)
• 1576 – Isabella de' Medici, Italian noble (b. 1542)
• 1647 – Masaniello, Italian rebel (b. 1622)
• 1664 – Andreas Gryphius, German poet and playwright (b. 1616)
• 1686 – John Pearson, English bishop and scholar (b. 1612)
• 1691 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1641)
• 1729 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (b. 1683)
• 1747 – Giuseppe Crespi, Italian painter (b. 1665)
• 1770 – Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (b. 1726)
• 1796 – George Howard, English field marshal and politician (b. 1718)
• 1831 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Russian general (b. 1763)
• 1868 – Dmitry Pisarev, Russian author and critic (b. 1840)
• 1879 – Edward Deas Thomson, Scottish-Australian politician, 3rd Chief Secretary of New South Wales (b. 1800)
• 1882 – Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States 1861-1865 (b. 1818)
• 1886 – Ned Buntline, American journalist and author (b. 1823)
• 1896 – Edmond de Goncourt, French critic and publisher, founded Académie Goncourt (b. 1822)
• 1915 – Ellen G. White, American theologian and author (b. 1827)
• 1917 – Philipp Scharwenka, German composer and educator (b. 1847)
• 1939 – Bartholomeus Roodenburch, Dutch swimmer (b. 1866)
• 1949 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1866)
• 1953 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (b. 1870)
• 1954 – Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (b. 1888)
• 1960 – Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1960 – John P. Marquand, American author (b. 1893)
• 1964 – Rauf Orbay, Turkish colonel and politician, Prime Ministers of Turkey (b. 1881)
• 1965 – Boris Artzybasheff, Ukrainian-American illustrator (b.1899)
• 1969 – James Scott Douglas, English-born Scottish race car driver and 6th Baronet Douglas (b. 1930)
• 1981 – Harry Chapin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
• 1982 – Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (b. 1894)
• 1985 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
• 1985 – Wayne King, American saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1901)
• 1989 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (b. 1908)
• 1990 – Robert Blackburn, Irish educator (b. 1927)
• 1990 – Miguel Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
• 1991 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (b. 1906)
• 1991 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (b. 1915)
• 1991 – Frank Rizzo, American police officer and politician, 93rd Mayor of Philadelphia (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Buck Buchanan, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
• 1994 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 1995 – May Sarton, American playwright and novelist (b. 1912)
• 1995 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Adolf von Thadden, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1921)
• 1998 – John Henrik Clarke, American historian and scholar (b. 1915)
• 1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer and publisher (b. 1960)
• 1999 – Alan Macnaughton, Canadian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b. 1903)
• 2001 – Morris, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1923)
• 2002 – John Cocke, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer and actress (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Carol Shields, American-Canadian novelist and short story writer (b. 1935)
• 2004 – George Busbee, American lawyer and politician, 77th Governor of Georgia (b. 1927)
• 2004 – Charles Sweeney, American general and pilot (b. 1919)
• 2005 – Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Camillo Felgen, Luxembourgian singer-songwriter and radio host (b. 1920)
• 2006 – Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 13th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (b. 1948)
• 2007 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer and historian (b. 1943)
• 2008 – Jo Stafford, American singer (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Lindsay Thompson, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Victoria (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Forrest Blue, American football player (b. 1944)
• 2012 – William Asher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Stephen Covey, American businessman and author (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Gilbert Esau, American businessman and politician (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian bassist, pianist, and composer (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Masaharu Matsushita, Japanese businessman (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Kitty Wells, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Alex Colville, Canadian painter and academic (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Marv Rotblatt, American baseball player (1927)
• 2014 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Mary Ellen Otremba, American educator and politician (b. 1950)
• 2014 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Heinz Zemanek, Austrian computer scientist and academic (b. 1920)
• 2015 – Denis Avey, English soldier, engineer, and author (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Evelyn Ebsworth, English chemist and academic (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Alcides Ghiggia, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Jack Goody, English anthropologist, author, and academic (b. 1919)
• 2017 – George Romero, American filmmaker (b. 1940)